Christmas 2013

Better late then never right?! We had an awesome Christmas this year. The older Bryson gets, the more fun it is. This year we crammed all of our Christmas parties into one day and it was crazy, but fun. We woke up early to the smell of a yummy breakfast casserole I put in the crock pot the night before. It was my first to make and it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. I followed the directions but I personally think it had too much onion and tomatoes. Next time I think I will cut both of those out.

Me and Robert kept waiting impatiently for Bryson to wake up, but it seems like he's going to be just like me. I always slept late on Christmas morning and so far he's been doing the same. When he finally woke up, we were all so excited! He was so happy to see everything that Santa brought. He enjoyed playing with those new toys before opening his gifts from us.

It took a little longer than normal to open his gifts this year. Not because he got so many but because he actually wanted to play with them this year. He usually just opens them, throws the paper and the gift to side and moves on without even looking at what he got. This year he wanted to stop and play with every gift before opening another one. It was so cute! There are so many things that he enjoys playing with this year so he got a huge variety of gifts from all of his favorite characters. Jake, Caillou, Despicable Me, Monsters University, Daniel Tiger, Thomas, Lego, and Play-Doh. It was so easy to shop this year because we could go into the store and just pick out anything and he will love it! He's really into movies and board games and has been talking about Hungry Hungry Hippos forever! He was so excited to get that. We also started adding to his movie collection. Our goal is for him to own all of the Disney movies, which is hard because they are not all sold in stores or online. We have to wait for them to be released from the vault.

 When we finally finished at our house, we headed to do Christmas with my family in Trussville. We wanted to eat first so we would still eat at my Aunt's house but it was so hard to keep Bryson and Will from wanting to open their gifts first. They did so good watching each other open gifts. They patiently waited their turn so we could see what everybody got. I think Bryson's favorite gift was his trampoline. Out of nowhere, and after all the gifts had been bought, he started talking about Santa bringing him a trampoline. Thankfully my dad found one just like he wanted. My favorite gift was our awesome new Keurig. Everybody that knows me knows that I am a huge coffee drinker, but Robert never has been. But since he works in Montgomery and has to drive back and forth everyday, he has become a pretty big coffee drinker, so the Keurig was the perfect gift for us.

 After Christmas at my parents house, we went to my Aunt's for dessert and more gifts! Thankfully she lives in my parents neighborhood so we didn't have to drive far. She surprised the boys with a treat from Santa then we enjoyed all her yummy desserts. She always makes the best banana pudding and chocolate cake. My aunt has always been known to give us gifts that we actually need. We have fun unwrapping things like paper towels, toilet paper, soap, shampoo and trash bags. It may sound crazy but those gifts are amazing! We go months before we have to buy those things at the store!

 Our last stop for the day was in Pelham to celebrate with Robert's family. We enjoyed a yummy dinner and more gifts! Bryson got more movies and Lego sets. We then played gift card dirty Santa with everybody else. We ended up with dinner and a movie! Now we just need to pick a night to use them. I also got a $50 Starbucks card, which was gone very quick! The best gift though was our paid airfare for our New York trip on Thanksgiving! Lola usually pays for it but it's so expensive. We thought we would have to pay for it this year but that was our Christmas gift! I can't wait to take Bryson back.
We had a wonderful Christmas. Sadly, it was over way too fast. It seems like we just put up our tree and just started looking at Christmas lights and it's already over.I know that next year will be just as fun as this year, if not better!